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To fulfill a social mission on a large scale, brands need to operate at a higher level than just focusing on changing consumer behavior related to their products. They will advocate broad-based efforts to support systemic change that benefits society as a whole. This is about the role of brands in raising awareness of a social issue that gives society more value than increasing the buy-in for the brand and the products made. It involves talking to governments and cultural influencers and bringing citizens along in the hope of sparking a wave of support and collaboration that will last for years, not weeks, and beyond individual campaigns.

While brands can of course communicate with policymakers on a case-by-case basis, they often gain more traction when they bring their creative know-how around advertising and engagement to a higher purpose. A shift in public perception towards healthier outcomes can be win-win-win for governments, brands, and the public. But doing it well means approaching it with a different mindset than traditional brand communication.

Taking a stand in today's popular culture

Enlightened brands have recognized that expanding to change public perception and general cultural narratives is key to consumer education, and not just a policy focus. They have done so in part because of general social trends in authority as the public has less confidence in the recommendations of governments and other key institutions. They tend to trust their colleagues or someone like them, which makes the democratization of channels like social media ever more powerful. Emmanuel Faber, CEO of Danone stated, "Today we can connect, learn and share at a speed and size that has never been possible before."

As traditional authority figures lose their hold, companies and brands have a greater opportunity and responsibility to shape narratives and communities for the better. Social power is moving towards loose agreements, more networked, open source, collaborative, transparent, short-term and conditional. Popular brands, national or global, can help fill the gap with years of unmatched reach and consumer confidence, including a pre-built presence in media with television and digital advertising. You can develop “tribal communities” of people who share a particular interest or commitment. And brands can and begin to take a stand on moral issues they haven't done before (like Walmart on gun controls and the sale of certain types of ammunition).

In a study of global brands (“The Truth About Global Brands”) in 29 countries, 81 percent of 30,000 consumers surveyed agreed that brands play an important role in people's lives. They tend to trust companies and brands to drive change faster than politicians and multilateral organizations. But be careful: once the trust is broken, it's hard to fix. As author Seth Godin said, "If you deserve trust, you can do anything else, but if you don't, you will not make progress, let alone move."

A key principle in creating a movement is to attract other partners to your cause. The word "advocacy" actually comes from the Latin "advocare" to call for support. Targeted brands do this by enlisting the help of a variety of partners and ordinary people to help them achieve their stated goal. They open discussions with governments, community leaders, NGOs and consumers, build trust and support around a common goal, and instigate policy choices and funding to accelerate change.

Advocacy is primarily for the benefit of society in general, and nowhere is this truer than in public health. Therefore, the benefits to the brand must be secondary or long-term. That's why we call this branding where brands achieve far more by thinking broadly and getting involved, using their cult status and the creative skills of their employees to keep the key topic on the public agenda. Ambitious lobbying often requires the coming together of competing brands, such as on Global Handwashing Day when Unilever's lifebuoy partnered with Procter & Gambles Safeguard and Colgate Palmolive.

Set roles with partners

Businesses play a role in influencing politics. When you bring together the right group of companies, you stand a higher chance of working with governments to show what the right guidelines could be. Paul Polman says this about the role of corporations in policy-making: corporations are not policy-makers; You need to set guidelines in partnership with governments and others. The Modern Day Slavery Act in the UK, which was introduced when Kevin Hyland was Britain's independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, is good law. Likewise the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in the USA. Of course, some companies don't like these laws, but today you have to ask these companies why they don't like them.

The UK Slave Act 2015 introduces new requirements for organizations in relation to their business and supply chains. It is important to work with the government and advocate not only market advantage but broader policies. But this is about creating social movements. While there is no universal consensus definition of a social movement, academic definitions generally share three criteria: a network of informal interactions between a variety of individuals, groups, and / or organizations involved in a political or cultural conflict on the basis of a common collective Identity. For our purposes, we will define social movement as: "A group of people who work together to advance their common ideal".

This group creates change together; You are doing something. Brands make this possible by using universal emotions: Nike not only sells running shoes, but also encourages courage: "Just do it". In addition to being a toilet cleaner, Domestos also combats poor sanitation. Apple doesn't sell hardware and software, it sells creativity and innovation.

Many public health issues already have national or global networks to support common advocacy, from the World Toilet Board to the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition. For example, the Global Handwashing Partnership (formerly the Public-Private Partnership for Handwashing) has helped the Lifebuoy brand promote hygiene and put hand washing on the agenda of international political groups such as Sanitation and Water for All. The coalition is seen as a neutral congregation, so their proposals receive more respect than brands that act alone. When pharmaceutical company Bayer proposed World Contraception Day, it relied on a coalition of 17 NGOs, government organizations, multilateral bodies and medical societies.

Social missions need emotions, reason, and vision

However, brands do best when they focus on mass awareness and engagement to drive social change as that is the unique expertise they bring with them. After all, a brand works by evoking a range of interrelated feelings in people. These feelings are not just about using or consuming a product. They can also mean working with the brand to achieve broad goals.

Social movements are just as dependent on emotional appeals as they are on reasoned arguments. And even with these arguments, consumers – especially teenagers – are more likely to accept advice and education from a trusted brand that they “get” (their online behavior, media consumption, values, etc.) than a traditional agency trying to communicate to a broad public . Brush generic nationwide health message to millions. For example, according to the Edelman survey, 49 percent of consumers believe that brands can do more than the government to address social ills.

A successful movement has a number of key characteristics. It has a positive vision for the future, not just a fear of the present. It addresses the personal sense of justice of every individual through their connected identity. It uses symbols, language and culture that resonate. It demands tangible, repeatable and sustainable ways of acting, both materially and ritually. It gives people freedom of choice and turns them into actors, not just beneficiaries. After all, it brings people and communities together on common platforms and through partnerships.

Contribution to Branding Strategy Insider by: Myriam Sidibe with permission from Routledge. Extracting and Adapting Brands on a Mission, How to Achieve Social Goals and Business Growth Through Purpose.

The Blake Project can help you define and develop your branding purpose and create a social mission.

Brand Strategy Insider is a service from The Blake Project: A strategic brand consultancy specializing in brand research, brand strategy, brand growth and branding

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